PDP: Buhari’s economic policies have brought Nigeria to its knees

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has returned Nigeria to a “beggar state”.

The opposition party said the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) has destroyed “every sector of our national life” as a result of “manifest incompetence and unbridled corruption”.

The PDP said this against the backdrop of the comment made by Muhammad Sanusi, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Sanusi had alleged that the progress recorded in the country in 35 years has been wiped out in five years.

Reacting to the comment on Wednesday, Kola Ologbondiyan, national publicity secretary of the PDP, said the statement by Sanusi indicates that the Buhari administration has “wrecked our nation”.

The PDP said the declaration by the former CBN governor reflects the position of majority of Nigerians across the country.

“The Buhari Presidency and the APC have in the last six years, only succeeded in destroying every sector of our national life with their manifest incompetence, unbridled corruption, treasury looting, impunity, exclusionist and restrictive economic policies that have brought our nation to her knees,” Ologbondiyan said in a statement.

“Nigerians can recall that the PDP handed over a robust economy, rated the largest hub in Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world with Fitch B+ rating and Gross Domestic Produce (GDP) of $574 billion to President Buhari and the APC in May 2015.

“Sadly, in the last six years, Buhari-led APC administration has reduced our productive sectors to a complete wreckage with alarming 33.3 percent unemployment and 17.38% inflation rates; over 60 million hitherto flourishing businesses folded up and the naira crashing from N167 to a dollar in 2015 to N512 under the APC corrupt and directionless watch.

“More depressing is that the corrupt APC administration has practically erased all the gains of the debt repayment achieved by the PDP, returned our nation to a beggar state and mortgaged the sovereignty of our country with reckless borrowing and accumulated N33.107trillion.

“Life has become so unbearable in Nigeria under President Buhari and the APC, that more than 82.9 million Nigerians are no longer able to afford their daily meals and other necessities of life, with our nation now ranking as poverty capital of the world and 98th out of 107 in Global Hunger index.

“Furthermore, the compromises of the APC administration have led to the escalation of terrorist activities, banditry, kidnapping, killings, bloody agitations as well as other acts of violence that have turned our nation into a large funeral palour, with no hope in sight.”

The PDP asked Nigerians to speak up to “rescue our nation from this fast descent to a failed state”.